Author: Schneider Electric
This audio was created using Microsoft Azure Speech Services
Our planet is facing a global food production and distribution system challenge. The UN forecasts a global population increase of nearly 2 billion over the next 30 years. Food production must increase by 70% without impacting the environment.
Consider the example of the nation of Singapore. Given the many competing land needs of the densely populated island nation, only 1% of Singapore’s land is set aside for farming, according to the Singapore Food Agency. Singapore’s agri-food industry will be significantly challenged to uplift its productivity in the coming years. To overcome land and resource constraints, some farmers use indoor multi-story LED lighting and recirculating aquaculture systems to produce 10 to 15 times more than traditional farms.
Transitioning from traditional farming approaches will require novel processes and innovative food-growing technologies. The work to address this challenge has already begun with the emergence of multiple new food cultivation methods. These include:
Such approaches lay the groundwork for a new generation of sustainable food systems that can support the growing world population. The field of indoor growing represents a significant step forward in transitioning to more sustainable farming methods.
Indoor growing places crops in a protective building, greenhouse, box, or container and controls the growing environment within the confines of that indoor plant. The light, water, and nutrients provided enable the crop to grow year-round under optimal conditions. Such facilities can produce multiple layers of different crops in the same facility. The protected space limits damage from weather and is much more effective for shielding crops from pests, diseases, and mold. Environmental controls drastically limit losses and reduce the amount of fertilizer and freshwater needed (by virtually eliminating dehydration effects from high temperatures or dry weather, and the water can be more easily recycled).
Since traditional farming grows crops only at the ground layer, vertical farming can multiply production over a given area by 6 to 10 times. Indoor growing also extends growing seasons from only a few months to year-round. A smaller footprint makes it easy to establish vertical farms near major population centers or even on the flat roofs of buildings within metropolitan areas. This drastically reduces the rate of CO2 emissions derived from the typical transportation of agricultural goods across long distances. Since food grown near population centers spends less time in the transportation cycle, spoilage rates are much lower.
The relatively new indoor growing industry is characterized by a mix of entrepreneurial start-ups, traditional corporate agriculture players, and food retailers. Many organizations seek funding options while others are fine-tuning the profitability of their operations. According to Statista, vertical farming is a €5 Billion global business growing at a rate of 24% per year. However, the business must overcome numerous challenges to grow and drive higher profitability rates. These include:
Companies like Schneider Electric support the development of indoor growing and vertical farming in multiple ways. We provide microgrid products and services that help to balance energy supply and demand, minimizing costs through energy storage and enhancing the ability of the operation to integrate a renewable energy supply. Our experts help select the type of energy needed based on cost and carbon footprint requirements.
We also offer energy as a service (EaaS) arrangements that help indoor growing operations avoid high upfront CapEx investments in energy infrastructure while maintaining a high level of energy consumption control. Schneider Electric water and wastewater experts can advise on coordinating water processing and energy to optimize performance while lowering costs. Our building management systems also offer centralized and remote operations control through one pane of glass for easy and efficient facility operations management. Automation teams can propose flexible hardware and software solutions that span from simple temperature sensors to comprehensive automation software solutions. Our open automation architectures make it easy for vertical farmers to overcome constraints and accommodate local environments. They can do this without spending valuable time and energy integrating new software.
Read this interview with Don Wingate about urban farming and community-supported agriculture for more information. To learn more about market-ready solutions, visit our Food & Beverage segment page. You can also download our webinar “Vertical Farming: The Future of Agritech” or read this article by Lisa Causarano about using smarter energy management to combat climate change.
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